Motor vehicle headlamp



W. H. CHAPMAN MOTOR VEHI CLE HEADLAMP 2 Sheets- June 27, 1933.

Sheet 1 Original Filed Sept. 30, 192

m 9 W \N FIE.E.

INVENTOR. WILLJAMHCHAPMAN WM I /3 ATTORNEY w. H. CHAPMA-N June 27, 1933. ,MOTOR VEHICLE HEADLQIAMP Re. 18,879

Original Filed Sept. 30, 1929 2 sheets-sheef 2 Fl E E.

INVENTOR. 12 W/LLMMH-C/YAPMAM 32 ATTORNEY.

Reissuecl June 27, 1933 UNITED STATES WILLIAM H. CHAPMAN, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA "IMIO'LOIR. VEHICLE HEADLAMP -rigina1- No'. 1,809;022,'dated June 9, 1931, Serial Iva-396,023, filed September 30, 1929. Application for reissue filedseptember 6,

. The present invention relates, broadly, to new and useful improvements in motorvehicle head-lamps, but more particularly to motor-vehicle road-lamps of duplex character for use in-night driving, either as auxiliariesto the usual-head-lamps or independentlythereof, asmay be desired by the driver of the vehicle.

The lamp of the present inventionis pro- 13 vided with a substantiallytwo-winged main reflecting member, preferably mounted in the center of the front end of-the radiator of the vehicle between the usual head-lamps, or it may be mountedin any other convenient 15 position, so that: the rays from its illuminant may be projected forwardly of the vehicle in fan-shaped form to light the roadway on both sides of=and substantially'imthe paths followed by the steering wheels' of the vehicle.

.The mainreflecting member-iss of duplex form, as to-construction,.withasingle centrally. disposed light bulb, the individual elements constituting this member being angularly disposed andarranged on opposite sides of the bulb, in such manner that the light raysfrom= this source are equally divided and directed. in divergent.courses,or forwardly .and vangi-llarly, relative to the line .of travel of the vehicle.

The head-lamp is also constructed-with a view to overcoming, in great vmeasure, that .glare' of theilluminant as ordinarily met when approaching a vehicle not thus equip eped, throughthe use of a'centr'ally disposed ..anti-glare shield of concave reflecting interior and opaque exterior adaptedtoreceive and reflect all-lightrays directed centrally .and forwardly by the illuminant, these raysbeing equally distributed by the two sides rearwardly to the main reflectors, to be given, again, by these, divergent reflections upon ,oppositesides of the shield, to be recombined with the directly emergent rays rer :flected therefrom, as fan-shaped .beamsilluminating both sides-of theroadway, the shield. protecting perfectly, from glare, the eyes of. those ,approaching.

The primary object .of the invention is the provision of amotor-vehiclelamp ofduplex .characterhaving a single illuminant and 1sveryeconomical in operation, -due to the fact that aslngle light :bulb furnishes thedesired illumination for the lamp.

'tratingthe improved duplex driving lamp .i-ng'also shown;

1932. Serial" 'No. 631,930.

character, having a single illumina-nt. ar-

ranged'centrally between two angularly disposed reflectlng surfaces borne respectively thereby,andadapted to receive and equally distribute the light received from said illuminant, and to project it forwardly astwo distinctbeams. v

-An other-object of the invention is the provision of a motor-vehicle lamp of duplex angularly disposed reflectors arranged onopposi-te sides thereof and adapted to direct the l ght rays in equally divided fan-shaped beams,-a nd including a centrally disposed anti-glare shield arranged in front of vthe lll-umlnant and between. the reflectors, sothat .the illuminant is completely-hidden from view when looking directly into the lamp, the rearward side of said-shield-being concave and reflective. and its opposite, or frontal, side opaque. I

-An-additional "object of-the invention is ithe-provisionof amotor-vehicle lamp which is of simple and durable character and which Further objectsof-the invention will, be-

come apparent, as'the description isread in connection with the accompanying drawings,

showing a. selected embodiment of the inven- .trating the general configuration of the lamp and its mounting bracket, the viewbeing in- .dicated-bythe-arrow 2, in Figure 3;

Figure 3 is an edge view of thelamp,-as indicated bythe arrow 3, in Figure 2, a fragmentary section of the mounting bracket be- Figure tis a considerably enlarged'horizontalsectionalviewtaken through the'entire lamp casing, showing the centrally disposed illuminant and theopposite similar --and angularly disposedrefiectors, also;-the 100 Figure 6 is a transverse sectional detail of" a portion of the central section of the casing and illustrating the shape and disposltlon of theilight dividing elements, the section being indicated by the section lines r6-6 in Fig ures 4 and 5.

In the drawings a preferred form of lamp casing has been illustrated and this casing is designated, in a general way by the numeral 10. The casing 10 is constructed .of suitable metal and is pressed to form opposite and angularly disposed shell-like members 11 and 12 provided on their inner surfaces Band 14 with any suitable reflectiv'e substance, such as plating, or any other suitable substance' commonly used for the purose. a p The intermediate section 15 of the lamp casing 10 is provided with a. rearwardly projecting cylindrical socket 16 in which is mounted the usual plug 17 having screwed on its outer end the member 18, and through which the feed wires 19 extend and are connected to the light'circuit of the vehicle in any convenient manner.

The light bulb 20 is of the slip type and is inserted in the socket 16 against the plug 17 as shown in Figure 4, and said bulb extends into the central chamber 21 formed between the shell-like members 11 and '12. I

The light deflecting element 22 is formed from a single piece of material having its entire surface provided with a suitable reflective substance, as hereinbefore described in connection with the reflectors 11 and 12, said light deflecting element embodying a central circular member 23 having an opening-24 therein to accommodate the slip plug of the light bulb 20, and having angular sections 25 and 26 gradually increasing in size'toward their outer extremities, as clearly shown in Figure 6. i

The inner edges 27 and 28 of-the angular sections are disposed toward each other and these edges are arranged in a line corresponding to the line of travel of the vehicle and extend from the inner side of the section 15 of the casing outwardly and divergently toward the central reflector member 29 which is mounted in the casing directly in front of the light bulb 20, the member26 being positioned directly above the light bulb and the member 27 directly beneath said bulb.

The members 11 and 12 of the casing 10 are of arcuate form in cross section while the 'centralsection 15 thereof is substantially of parabolic form, as indicated in Figure 5.

The front edges of the members 11 and 12 of the casing are flanged as indicated, respectively, at 30 and 31 and a continuous U- shaped bead 32 extends completely around acter, entirely obscures the light bulb 20,

when viewed directly from the front of the lamp, as by a person driving toward a vehicle'so equipped, thus eliminating completely the glare so commonly prevalent in all motor Vehicle lights.

The casing 10 is mounted on the Vehicle in any suitable manner, and, as here shown, this mounting consists'of a centrally positioned member 36 providing ears 37 and 38 having aligned openings therein for the reception of a clamping bolt 39 which bolt is adapted to rigidly clamp the ears 37 and 38 against a suitable supporting arm 40 which may be mounted upon the tie rod 41, or on any other suitable part of the vehicle, the lamp casing, as a whole, being adjustable to tilt the same to any angle relative to the roadway, this angle depending entirely on the various state laws governing the distance ahead of the vehicle at which the light rays should be dissipated upon the roadway.

From the foregoing description it is quite obvious that the light rays from the upper and'lower sides of the illuminant will be equallydeflected by the sections 25 and 26 of the 11 ght'deflecting element 22, the upper rays being reflected rearwardly by the reflective surfaces'42 and 43 and the lower rays being equally reflected rearwardly by the reflective surfaces 44 and 45. 7

The light rays as reflected from the surfaces 42, 4s, and 44 and 45, of the light defleeting element 22 will be received and reflected by the reflectors 13 and 14-and the llght rays from the front side of the illuminant will bereceived by the reflector 29, which 1s arcuate in form, as shown in Figure 4, l

and" equally reflected rearwardly to be received and re-reflected by the said reflectors 13 and 14 of the casing.

In the above described manner a portion of the light rays from the illuminant undergoes a single reflection While another portion thereof undergoes a double reflection, the latter being those rays striking the light deflecting element 22 and the centrally disposed reflector 29, as hereinbefore described.

The angle of inclination at which the front faces, or lenses, of the casing 10 are arranged relative to a line drawn across the intermediate opaque strip 35, as indicated in Figure 2, is preferably 20 degrees, or approx- 1 imately, so, this angle, of course, being dependent upon the divergence desired, however, the degree angle is considered suflicient for general purposes.

The lamp herein described when in opera- ,tion casts divergent fan-shaped beams of light ahead of the vehicle and slightly downwardly in the paths of the steering wheels and somewhat beyond the borders of the roadway on either side, which enables the driver of the vehicle so equipped to plainly see the road ahead and to also clearly see curves in the roadway.

Drivers approaching in opposite directions are not blinded by the direct glare from the illuminant and the divergent beams of light from the illuminant also assist the driver of the approaching vehicle in determining the required clearance for the safe passing ofthe vehicles.

I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofithe United States the following 1. A device of the class described, comprising, in combination, duplex shell-like-reflectors of substantially parabolic form in cross-section and having an intermediately positioned light deflecting element, an illuminant coactively associated with said light deflecting element, and a third reflector positioned in front of said illuminant and forming a continuation of said light deflecting element to receive and reflect the light rays as received from the front end of said illuminant rearwardly and angularly to be received and re-reflected by said shell-like reflectors.

2. A device of the class described, comprising, in combination, a casing having duplex reflectors and lenses. therefor arranged in open V-shaped formation, an illuminant mounted between said reflectors, an additional reflector arranged directly in front of said illuminant and between said lenses, and a light deflecting element having upper and lower sections arranged above and beneath said illuminant and forming a continuation of said additional reflector to deflect those rays from the upper and lower sides thereof rearwardly to the first mentioned reflectors.

3. In a device of the class described, a casing embodying duplex reflectors having lenses inclined rearwardly and angularly, a reflector of arcuate form in cross-section, positioned between said lenses and having an opaque background, an illuminant socket positioned between said duplex reflectors and 4. A vehicle lamp comprising a. casing, a pair of duplicate light reflectors in said casing, a source of light positioned centrally between said reflectors, an angular light deflector extending upwardly and downwardly from said light source, the apex of the deflector being directed inwardly of the casing, the extent of inward direction increasing from the light source to the periphery of the casing, a curved reflector having a concave face directed toward the source of light extending from the top to the bottom of the casing and forming a continuation of the light deflector.

5. A light projector, comprising two shelllike reflectors of substantially parabolic form in cross section joined together to form a unitary reflecting member, said reflectors arranged side by side and their axes diverging forwardly in a horizontal plane, the forward edges of said reflectors making an 0btuse angle with each other, a light bulb sup ported in the axis of the projector and having its filament forward of a vertical plane passing through the extreme lateral ends of said reflectors, and angular light deflector elements having upper and lower sections arranged centrally of the projector and extending above and below said light bulb at the junction of and cooperating with said two shell-like reflectors, whereby a shallow, wide fan-shaped extended beam of light is cast forward and downward.

WILLIAM H. CHAPMAN.

directly in the rear of said centrally disposed reflector, and means comprising an angular light deflector element having upper and lower sections arranged centrally of the casing and extending from the illuminant socket outwardly and angularly to the cen- C5 trally disposed reflector. 

